1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for various kinds of networked AV devices and a method of displaying a graphical user interface on the controller.
2. Related Art of the Invention
Conventional AV device controllers are included in each individual television or video cassette recorder (VCR), and the number of buttons on the controllers has increased with improvement in the performance of the AV devices. A method to control a plurality of AV devices with one controller is to control a television or a VCR by obtaining an ID code from the television or the VCR and identifying the ID as described in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-68095.
Under these circumstances, the following problems arise:
Since a plurality of AV devices are present in each home and the controllers included therein are also present, it is difficult to identify the AV device to which each controller belongs. In addition, with improvement in the performance of the AV devices, the controllers have become complicated and difficult to use.
Even when the controllers are integrated into one controller as described in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-68095, it is difficult to identify the function assigned to each button.
To solve these problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a controller capable of controlling a plurality of AV devices with one controller, and a method of displaying a graphical user interface on the controller, said method being characterized in that anyone can easily operate AV devices or the user can customize the graphical user interface.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, means is provided for obtaining, as GUI information of controlled devices on an AV device network, GUI image information, GUI display position information and information on commands transmitted to the controlled devices. According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the GUI information of various controlled devices on the AV device network can be obtained, the devices on the AV device network can be easily controlled with one controller.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, the following methods are provided: a method in which levels are provided for GUI display and the user can make level selection; and a method in which parts are displayed in accordance with the selected level. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the user selects from among, for example, levels from a level to display minimum necessary GUIs such as playback, stop and rewind of a VCR to a level to display a multiplicity of GUIs such that all the functions of a VCR are displayed and inputs the selected level and after the selected level is input, the desired GUIs are displayed at the display level, a controller being easy for the user to use can be constructed.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, the following methods are provided: a method in which levels are provided for GUI display and the user can continuously and flexibly make level selection; and a method in which display is performed according to the selected level. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since operations of zoom in and zoom out, for example, between a level to display minimum necessary GUIs such as playback, stop and rewind of a VCR and a level to display a multiplicity of GUIs such that all the functions of the VCR are displayed can be freely performed and GUIs are displayed in GUI positions desired by the user at a display level desired by the user, a controller being easy for the user to use can be constructed.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method in which the user can freely customize the layout of the displayed GUIs is provided. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the user can move GUI parts to which functions such as playback, stop and rewind of a VCR are assigned to desired positions on the GUI display screen, a controller being easy for the user to use can be constructed.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, to solve the above-mentioned problems, means is provided for obtaining, as GUI information of a plurality of controlled devices on an AV device network, GUI image information, GUI display position information, information on commands transmitted to the controlled devices and the device identifiers of the controlled devices, and a method is provided in which the user can freely customize the layout of GUI parts of a plurality of devices. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, for example, on an AV network to which a CD player (CD) and a minidisk player (MD) are connected, the user can freely dispose the GUI part to which the recording function of the MD is assigned next to the GUI part to which the playback function of the CD is assigned. As described above, an AV network controller can be constructed that is easy for the user to use and in which all the devices on an AV device network are controlled with one controller.